The Dreams of George Weasley
by Red Aurora
Summary: AU for DH because Fred will never die, thus there are some spoilers.  It’s a month and a half before the Battle of Hogwarts and George is having dreams of his brother’s death.  Can he stop them from coming true?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

George stunned another Death Eater and spun to face the next. There were duels going on all around him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a jinx narrowly miss Angelina Johnson. She ducked out of the way and expertly shot a spell back at the masked Death Eater, who went down hard and didn't get up. Next to George, Lee Jordan had just stunned his Death Eater as well and had started to face off with another. George turned to help him when a pain suddenly shot through his stomach. He doubled over, gasping. Lee gave George a worried glance.

"George, are you okay?"

George just kept staring at nothing, breathing hard. When he spoke, it was a whisper, as if he were talking to himself.

"Fred…"

"What?"

A jinx skipped by the pair. Lee gave a frustrated groan and fired back, hitting the Death Eater square in the face. Before his opponent hit the ground, Lee was kneeling down next to George, concern written all over his face. George continued gasping and speaking as if nothing had happened.

"Fred. I need to get to Fred!" He stood up quickly, determination painted on his face. With new purpose, George took off.

"George, wait!"

Before Lee could follow another Death Eater attacked and Lee was forced to stay behind and fight. Meanwhile, George took down any Death Eater in his path with cold efficiency.

Leaving a path of beaten and battered Death Eaters in his wake, he didn't notice the stares of the other Order members, classmates, and friends who had the opportunity to marvel at his skill. His face held a look of pure determination. If Voldemort himself had stood in George's way, there was no doubt that George would at least give him a run for his money.

Finally, George reached a destroyed corridor. He didn't know how he'd gotten there or why he was drawn to it, but he was certain it had something to do with Fred. He ran, frantically calling his twin. Stopping abruptly, he slowly turned to his right. A tuft of red hair was just visible in a niche a few feet away. George ran to his twin's body and fell to his knees, examining Fred for any signs of life, hoping against hope that he'd find a small pulse or feel the tiniest breath. There was nothing. He let out a sob. This couldn't happen. Fred wasn't dead. He reached out and shook Fred, yelling into the nothingness around him, the volume of his voice rising with every word.

"No, no, no! You're not dead! It's not fair! You can't be dead! No, Fred, NO!"

"NO!!" George Weasley sat straight up in bed, panting. It took him a couple of minutes to recognize the bedroom he'd been sharing with his twin brother since they'd been forced into hiding. He sighed and pushed his now sweaty bangs out of his face. Brushing his cheek as well, he was surprised to bring his hand back wet. Wiping his face, he realized there were tears running down his cheeks. He closed his eyes. The dreams had been getting worse the past few weeks. It started out with him fighting the Death Eaters. He'd throw out a few spells, then wake up. As days passed though, the dreams got longer and longer, divulging their sinister purpose.

The first time he felt his brother die, he'd woken up straight away and gone over to Fred's bed to find him still sleeping peacefully. After that, the dreams continued, revealing more about Fred's death. Each time when he woke up, he would go and check on Fred, watch him sleep for a few minutes, then go lie back down. He knew by now that sleep rarely came after the dreams, so he would usually just lie there until morning.

This dream was different though. He'd never actually seen Fred's body. The last dream had ended when he saw the tuft of red hair sticking out from the niche. Actually seeing Fred's pale face, his unseeing eyes, the bit of laughter etched forever on his face, made him feel physically ill. He had to see Fred alive and breathing.

He pushed the covers back in a rush and leapt out of bed, stumbling over to where his twin lay sleeping. Still shaking, he looked down at Fred, observing the slow rise and fall of his chest. It was a miracle Fred hadn't woken when he'd shouted out. George closed his eyes. The image of Fred's body leaning against the wall assaulted him. George's eyes flew open again. It was so real. He struggled to regain his senses, which were already dulled from the lack of sleep. Dizziness overwhelmed him and he fell heavily to the floor. Fred sat up in bed, groggy

"Huh? Whasappening?"

He glanced around, confused, until his eyes fell onto his brother, sitting on the floor, holding his head. Immediately, tiredness left him.

"George? What are you doing on the floor?"

George didn't respond. He just kept sitting there, face hidden.

"George, are you okay? You're scaring me."

Fred got out of bed and knelt next to his brother.

"George?"

When George failed to respond again, Fred reached over to George and pulled his hand down, then gently grasped his chin and brought it up until George was forced to look at him. He was shocked to see a steady stream of tears running down his twin's face.

"George, what happened?! Please say something!"

Without warning, George grabbed Fred and fell onto his chest.

"Oh Merlin, Fred. Never leave! Please, don't go! I don't know what I'd do! Please don't die! Please don't die!"

A look of confusion spread over Fred's face.

"Okay, it's okay! I'm not going anywhere! What's wrong? What happened?"

George didn't respond, just kept repeating the phrase "please don't die" over and over again. Fred was baffled, but kept his brother in a hug, letting him cry into his chest. After a few minutes, Fred's legs started going numb. George showed no signs of letting up.

"George, do you think we could move to your bed before my legs fall off?"

The feeble attempt at humor was lost as George just kept on whimpering.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Slowly, Fred stood up. George tightened his grip, but followed Fred. Fred walked them over to George's bed and slid on, lying back on the pillows. George did the same, never removing his head from Fred's chest. They lay there, George crying and Fred rubbing circles on his twin's back, trying his best to comfort him.

After a while, the crying died down and George's breathing evened out. Fred lay there, looking down at his now sleeping brother, who was still hugging his chest. What had set this off? He knew something had been bothering George for the past two or three weeks, but George refused to talk about it.

In fact, George had been acting more and more distant since the first time he'd woken up panting. George didn't know that he actually woke up when George did. Fred was aware that his brother had started coming over to his bed every night to watch him, though he tried to sleep it off, thus the groggy response to his distraught other half after the earlier collapse.

It was even more disturbing that George didn't know that Fred had woken up as well. They usually knew what the other was doing. One could always tell if the other was awake, asleep, happy, sad, angry, frustrated, or even hungry a lot of times without even looking at each other. George was off. Something was worrying him and he wouldn't share it with Fred.

This disturbed Fred even more. The twins had always shared everything with each another. The only time they'd had a secret was when Fred had a crush on Angelina. It was the first time either one of them had really liked a girl. He didn't tell George for three days before he finally cracked. That was the longest secret they'd ever had. Until now.

George had gone at least two weeks, maybe three. What was he keeping that was disturbing him so much that he couldn't tell his own twin? With these thoughts and questions swirling around in his head, Fred drifted off to sleep as well, holding his twin.


	2. Chapter 2

NOTE: I just wanted to thank everyone for the reviews and kind words. I really appreciate it. I hope the next part meets your expectations. Without further adieu, here's the second chapter!

**Chapter 2**

The next morning, George woke up feeling warm, something he hadn't experienced since the dreams started. As he started to stir, he heard an unexpected voice speak just above his head.

"It's about time you woke up, Sleeping Beauty. I was worried I'd have to wet the bed."

George sat up quickly and turned around to find his mirror image reclined on his bed. He stared at Fred, surprised.

"Fred?"

"Don't worry," Fred replied with a grin. "I was just kidding about the wetting the bed thing."

George's face remained serious.

"Fred, what are you doing in my bed?"

The grin left Fred's face, replaced by a serious look as well.

"You woke up yelling again last night."

George looked down, suddenly very interested in his sheets. He'd hoped the events of the previous night had been another dream.

"Oh…so you did wake up then."

"Yeah. You were standing by my bed like you usually do, then you just fell down. You wouldn't answer me. When I finally got you to look at me, you just starting crying and saying "please don't die" over and over again. Scared the hell out of me. What's going on with you?"

"It's nothing. It was just a bad dream."

"It's not nothing!" Fred shouted, causing George to jump and look up at him in surprise. "Don't lie to me George! It's more than just a bad dream! You don't nearly have a nervous breakdown because of a nightmare! Now tell me what's bothering you! Please!"

George sighed and looked down again before speaking quietly.

"I saw you die."

Fred's eyebrows shot up. "What?"

George looked up and stared Fred right in the eye, speaking clearly and at a normal volume this time.

"I saw you die."

"You saw me die?"

George let out a weak laugh.

"Is there an echo in here?"

Fred just raised his eyebrows again and George sighed, getting serious.

"Yes, I saw you die. Well, not so much saw as felt. It's always the same. I'm fighting Death Eaters at Hogwarts. Everyone's there. All of a sudden, there's this horrible pain in my stomach. I know there's something wrong with you, so I take off and get to the hall where you are. When I get there, there's a bunch of rubble, like there was an explosion. I stop and look to my right. There's a little niche. And you're lying there. It's too late. There's nothing I can do. I start to yell and then I wake up. It's the same every time. Every time I have the feeling, every time I run down the same hall, every time you die the same way. I see more every time I have the dream. Last night was the first time I actually saw your body. I guess that's what set me off. I saw you dead and it was the most horrible thing I've ever seen in my life."

By the end of his speech, George's voice was quivering. Fred was speechless. The twins just looked at each other for a few minutes until Fred finally spoke.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Please," George scoffed. "How would people react if I walked in one morning and said 'Hey! By the way, I'm having recurring dreams where Fred dies in the exact same place and the exact same way. Could you pass the jam?'? They'd just say that it has to do with me losing my ear and underlying fear that I'll lose you or something."

"Well, it's just a dream after all."

"No!" It was Fred's turn to jump at George's outburst. "It's not just a dream! This is different!"

Fred was still doubtful. He loved his twin and trusted him with his life, but they'd been through a lot over the past few months. Still, he was willing to hear him out.

"Alright, if it's not a dream, then what do you think it is?"

"I think it's a warning. I think that if we go to Hogwarts and we fight in that battle, then you're going to die."

Fred let out an uneasy laugh. "Oh, come on George. You can't believe that."

George continued to look at Fred, his grave expression never faltering.

"So you think that you're, what, a seer now? You think you can see the future?"

"I…I don't know. But I know that this isn't just a dream."

"Look George, I know the past few months have been hard, but it's going to be fine. I'm not going to die."

"You can't know that! You haven't seen what I've seen."

"It's just a nightmare! A recurring nightmare, but a nightmare all the same! It's all going to be okay!"

George was silent.

"Look, George, it's been stressful with everything that's happened, and I can't promise people we love won't die, but you can't see the future. It's all in your head. Now, what do you say we go get some breakfast, huh?"

George looked sullen and spoke quietly again. "Yeah, alright."

"It's going to be okay."

George looked up and gave Fred a big smile, acting like his normal self again.

"Yeah, I know. Let's go before it's all gone then!"

Fred smiled, relieved, got up and started heading out of the room. As soon as his back was turned, the smile faded from George's face and he looked somber. He closed his eyes and sighed before following Fred.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Despite Fred's assurances that everything was okay, the dreams kept assaulting George. They continued to get longer, chronicling the events after Fred's death. George tried to tell Fred the night after his breakdown, but Fred said the same things as the night before. George gave up. He put a silencing charm up around his bed so that Fred wouldn't hear him if he woke up yelling again. During the day, he made sure he acted relatively normal, laughing with Fred as they finished several new products for their shop and made some adjustments to the fake ear they'd fashioned to replace George's lost one. Things continued on normally (well, as normally as they could, given the circumstances).

One night almost six weeks after his first dream, George sat straight up in bed, panting and drenched in sweat as he normally did. A confused expression came over his face.

"It was different this time. Why was it different? It was like I was…and I saw…" He shook his head and lay back down, thinking about what he'd seen while he waited for morning to come.

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The next day, which happened to be exactly six weeks after the dreams had started, Fred came running into the room where George was working.

"George! It's time! We have to go to Hogwarts! The call has been sent out!"

George paled considerably. "You're sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! Come on George! We need to go!"

A thought came to George. That's why the dream was different the night before. So he could see exactly what happened. So he could change it.

"You can't go."

"What? Why not?"

"You'll die."

Fred rolled his eyes. "Oh, not this again! It was just a stupid dream George! It stopped after we talked about it. You can't be serious!"

"It wasn't just a dream!! And it didn't stop after that night. I put a silencing charm around my bed so you wouldn't hear when I woke up."

Fred stared at George. "What?"

"Yeah, you have a beautiful funeral, Fred. Lots of people turn out."

"Oh my…how did you hide it from me?! We know everything about each other!"

"Like you said, it's been a weird few months. I learned how to cope with it. I learned how to hide it."

"Well, why didn't you tell…never mind. It doesn't matter now. I'm going and you can't stop me. Maybe since I know about it, it won't happen now."

"Fred, please-"

"No George! I have to do this! They need everyone there. I'm not going to abandon them because you think you can see the future!"

"Fine, just let me grab something first."

Fred looked at George suspiciously. "What are you getting? You have your wand."

"You're right, I do."

George quickly pulled his wand out and pointed it at Fred. It happened so fast that Fred didn't even know what was happening until his brother's wand was in his face.

"I'm sorry Fred. I really am."

Fred slowly put his hands up, trying to placate his twin. "George, what are you-"

George didn't give him a chance to finish. "Stupefy!"

A jet of red light hit Fred square in the chest. He slumped to the ground, unconscious. George put his arm down and sighed, looking at his brother lying in a heap on the floor. He went over and picked Fred up, taking him into their bedroom and carefully putting him on his bed. He brushed Fred's bangs over, looking down at him sadly.

"I'm sorry Fred. It has to be this way. I won't let you die."

With that, he took one last look at his brother, then turned around and walked out the door.

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George arrived at the Room of Requirement and put on a mask of excitement. He was greeted by a mass of students. After Harry left with Luna, Neville came over to him.

"Where's…your brother?"

George couldn't help but smile at Neville's obvious attempt to hide the fact that he had no idea which twin he was actually talking to.

"And which brother would that be? I have five you know."

"Um…Fred?"

George smiled widely in approval and Neville looked relieved. Luckily, George had prepared a story to explain Fred's absence.

"He went to go pick up some supplies right before I got the call. He doesn't have his galleon with him. I left him a note, but I don't know when he'll be here. It may be a while."

"Oh, okay then. Hope he gets here soon."

"Yeah, right."

In no time, the fight began. George took what he knew was Fred's place in the hall alongside Percy, well aware of how important it was to hold the Death Eaters back in that location. Lee and the others would have things under control where he would have been. Without Fred in position though, not only might the Death Eaters break through, but he also might lose another brother…one he'd just gotten back.

The fight had been going on for a while. George and Percy were dueling Death Eaters, backing up into a corridor. He noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione appear and raise their wands to help them.

Suddenly, George felt the distinct sensation of déjà vu. Looking around, he recognized the place where his brother had died from his dreams. Instead of continuing, like Fred and Percy had, George started moving a little off to the side, directing the whole group in turn. He knew someone still needed to be where Fred was during the explosion to keep the Death Eaters at bay. He'd have to try to position himself close enough to stop the Death Eaters but far enough away as to not bear the brunt of the blast.

Once he had placed himself where he thought he needed to be and made sure the others weren't in harm's way either, he let all his thoughts go and focused on the fight at hand. He knew Fred wouldn't die and, hopefully, he wouldn't either. If he did though, he wanted to go out having fun. With that thought in mind, a huge grin crossed his face as he continued to battle with Voldemort's followers. The fighting persisted until George heard Percy speak.

"Hello Minister! Did I mention I'm resigning?" [quote from Deathly Hallows, page 636

George laughed as the Death Eater he was fighting went down.

"You're joking, Perce!" George shouted. He turned and looked at Percy with a look of pure joy on his face. "You actually _are_ joking, Perce…I don't think I've heard you joke since - " [quote from DH, pg. 636

The explosion took everyone off guard. George felt himself flying backward. In that split second, everything seemed to slow down. He saw Percy duck down as he was showered with wall fragments, saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron scattered by the explosion as well. The stunned and transfigured Death Eaters were lost in a cloud of dust. Debris fell in slow motion, almost like snowflakes. George considered how odd it was that something so terrible could compare to something so beautiful.

Time sped up again. George's last thought before he slammed into the wall behind him was that at least it wasn't Fred. Then he was consumed by darkness.

Note: quotes taken from Deathly Hallows, page 636.


	4. Chapter 4

NOTE: Hey guys! Again, thanks so much for your reviews (they make me happy!) and for reading my story. There's only one more chapter after this one, so yay! Let me know what you think. Here it is!

**Chapter 4**

At the exact moment George hit the wall, Fred sat straight up in bed, wide awake and clutching his stomach. A moment later, he remembered why he was lying on the bed. His twin had stunned him to keep him from going to the battle.

"Oh, that stupid, bloody prat! If a Death Eater doesn't kill him, I will!"

He jumped off the bed and got to Hogwarts as fast as he could to join the fight. He took down quite a few Death Eaters before Voldemort's icy voice was heard announcing that Harry Potter had an hour to turn himself over.

Fred, still ignoring the pains in his stomach, went to find George. He was furious that his twin had the audacity to stun him. He knew George was worried, but it was just a stupid dream. It had to be. Because George couldn't see the future. That was just impossible.

He stormed towards the Great Hall, knowing that's where most people would probably be. Before he could get to there, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Ron, and his father ran into him. Arthur sighed with relief.

"Fred! Thank goodness. We were just coming to look for you-"

"Where's George?!" Fred interrupted. "That bloody git stunned me and left me at home! When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna-"

"FRED!" Fred stopped short. Bill, who had yelled his name, was looking at him determinedly. The others had varying expressions of sorrow on their faces. Percy looked absolutely terrible. Fred scanned them one more time before slowly speaking again, looking at them warily.

"Where's George?"

"Fred, there was an explosion…"

The family paused and looked at each other, unsure of how to continue. Fred took a deep breath and heard himself say "no", his voice so low he was surprised anyone even heard him. Without another word, he pushed through his family and into the Great Hall. Instead of tables, rows of injured and dead were lining the floor. He stopped and took it all in, allowing his family to catch up with him. Before they could say anything, Fred spotted his mother and Ginny sitting in the intensive care section with a figure whose face he couldn't see.

He took off running, not pausing when his name was called by someone who might have been Lee Jordan. He didn't stop until he reached Ginny's side. She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face, and he looked down, panting, to see a body usually identical to his own. George now had cuts and scrapes on his face. His chest was covered in bruises and oddly shaped welts. Fred couldn't move until he saw the slight motion of George's chest that meant he was still alive. He realized that the rest of his family was there now, surrounding George. Bill stood beside Fred.

"He was in an explosion. There weren't a lot of external injuries, but…he hit the wall behind him with a lot of force. The internal injuries are extensive. Madam Pomfrey's done all that she can. If we don't get him to St. Mungo's soon…"

The unfinished sentence hung in the air heavily. Fred suddenly became conscious of what he'd known since he sat up in bed after being stunned by his brother. George was hurt. Badly. And he might not live. That was why his stomach hurt. It hit him like a ton of bricks.

Charlie stood next to Fred, looking concerned. "Fred? Are you okay? Fred?"

Fred couldn't hear anything. His legs gave out and he fell to his knees, a blank expression on his face. His brother was dying. There was nothing he could do about it. And it was his fault. He didn't hear his family's worried questions and calls nor did he feel their hands as they lowered his sagging body to the ground.

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Fred opened his eyes without knowing he'd closed them. He was lying flat on the floor next to his brother. He couldn't see him, but he could sense that he was there. He looked up at the worried faces of his family. Ginny, Charlie, and his father were standing over him.

"What happened?" he asked as he sat up dizzily. He pulled a knee up to support his arm, as he brought his hand up to hold his head, much like George had that night he'd said he'd first seen him die. It seemed so long ago now.

Ginny spoke first. "You passed out. Madam Pomfrey said it was probably from stress and shock."

Fred turned to look at his still unconscious twin, who was surrounded by the rest of the family.

"How is he?"

This time Charlie spoke. "The same. He'll be in the first group once we can get people out."

Before Fred could speak again, Voldemort's voice rang out through the hall. "Harry Potter is dead." [quote from Deathly Hallows, page 728

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Fred and the rest of the Weasleys sat in the waiting room at St. Mungo's. Harry Potter had seemingly come back from the dead and finally succeeded in destroying the thing that had shattered the lives of so many. The dark wizard known as Lord Voldemort was dead and the wizarding community free from his terrible shadow. Outside, there were probably celebrations going on.

But not here. In this particular waiting room at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, the mood was somber. Fred sat on the floor in a corner, knees up to his chest. He hadn't said a word since they had left the Great Hall, just stared into space. He knew his family was worried about him. They kept glancing over in his direction. He didn't care.

He couldn't help but think about his last conversation with George. Well, it was less of a conversation, and more of an argument. Conversations didn't generally end with one of the speakers stunning the other. He felt guilty about yelling at his brother. He felt sorrow about what had transpired. He felt a little confusion because, as he'd realized in the Great Hall, George's dream had come true, or could have had George not stunned him. He might have died if he had been there. Then again, maybe he wouldn't have. Maybe he would have changed the outcome himself. So mostly, Fred felt anger because George hadn't trusted him enough to give him the chance to change it on his own. Instead, he'd gone off and nearly gotten himself killed. And Fred wasn't sure if he could get over that.

After what seemed like an eternity, the healer came in. He explained that George's injuries were extensive, that they'd done the best they could, but that now it was up to George. There was nothing more they could do for him. The family stood for a minute before Arthur spoke.

"What are his chances?"

The healer paused, as if debating what to say.

"Not good."

Molly sobbed. Bill and Charlie tried and failed to look stoic. Percy let his head fall back against the wall he was leaning on and closed his eyes. Ron pulled Ginny into a hug as she attempted unsuccessfully to hold herself together. A single tear ran down his cheek. Fred continued to look blankly down the hall.

The healer gave them a minute before continuing. "You can go and sit with him if you'd like. I think it would help for you to be with him."

After thanking the healer, the whole family went down and sat with George. A few hours later, Percy took Ron and Ginny back to the Burrow, at his parents' suggestion, to get some food and rest. Bill and Charlie followed soon after that. As night fell, Arthur and Molly tried to get Fred to go home as well. He hadn't eaten in who knows how long and the last two times he'd been "asleep" he'd either been stunned or passed out. Despite this, he refused to leave his twin's side.

After a battle of stubbornness, Fred finally won out. The healer and his parents agreed that he could stay the night, so long as he ate a decent meal and promised to actually sleep. Fred agreed to the terms, but insisted that his parents go home. The family needed them and they deserved a little bit of rest. After Fred agreed to contact them if there was any change in George, the Weasley parents reluctantly went home. A cot was set up for Fred.

He didn't sleep well that night, his head filled with images of his brother lying on the ground before him dead or dying. He sat up many times just to make sure George was still breathing. Morning didn't come soon enough.

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Note: quote from Deathly Hallows page 728

Another note: So I had another scene in here with what happened during the battle between Harry and Voldemort, but I took it out because it seemed to mess with the flow of the story. If you really want to see it, I could post it as an extra scene or something. Let me know and if I get enough responses, I'll go ahead and post it. If not, that's okay, it's not integral to the story (thus me not putting it in the first place). I'm just curious about whether you want to see it or not. Okay, I'm done now. I'll try to post the last chapter in a couple of days. Thanks!


	5. Chapter 4 Extra Scene

Note: Sorry to get your hopes up, but this isn't the last chapter. Don't hate me. This is the little add-in scene for Chapter 4. So, basically, I had this in Chapter 4 right after the "Harry Potter is dead" line and before they went to St. Mungo's. I liked the sentiment of it, but I felt like the flow of the story was better without it, so I cut it out. So, here's the deleted scene, for everyone who wants to look at it. I'll post the final chapter soon. Hope this holds you over til then!

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Everyone sat in shock for a moment before taking action. The Weasleys all got up except for the twins. Arthur looked down at Fred.

"You stay here and take care of your brother."

Fred could only nod and watch his family as they took off out of the Great Hall. There was no other place he could be right now. No matter what was happening outside, he wouldn't leave his brother alone.

After a few minutes, Fred heard shouting. The fighting began outside again. People burst back into the Great Hall, battling Death Eaters. Fred was stock still for a moment as he realized one of the people who had just come in was Voldemort himself.

An instant later, he pulled out his wand, turned away from the Dark Lord, and positioned himself in front of the prone form of his twin. He stunned a couple of Death Eaters before a curse flew by and hit the wall behind them. Debris flew everywhere. Fred threw himself over George to keep it from hitting his twin's already battered body. Fred sat up coughing to see his mother dueling with Bellatrix Lestrange. Fred couldn't hear what they were saying, but something set his mother off and Molly hit Bellatrix with a curse square in the chest. Bellatrix went down, obviously dead.

Fred was amazed, a huge grin crossing his face. His joy was short lived though when he noticed Voldemort turn towards her. Terror filled him as he watched the wizard aim to kill his mother. His terror turned to amazement however when Harry appeared out of nowhere. He watched in awe as Voldemort was finally defeated.

After a moment of silence, he realized that it was over. A roar erupted from the hall and everyone swarmed towards Harry. Fred let out a laugh and whoop of celebration. He turned to George to celebrate more, then remembered that George's life was still on the line. He scanned George's body and noticed his breathing was even shallower than before. Letting out a pained cry, Fred grabbed George's arm.

"No, George, you can't die. Not now! We just won! You hear that? We just won! You're not supposed to die if we win!"

At that moment, Madam Pomfrey came over to him.

"We're about to move the first group to St. Mungo's. We need to get him ready for transport."

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Okay, now that that's done, I'll try to post the next chapter soon. Hope it lives up to the hype!


	6. Chapter 5

Well, here it is...the final chapter. All my little notes are at the bottom, so I guess go ahead and dig in! Hope you enjoy it!

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**Chapter 5**

The sun was just starting to rise, marking the third full day since Voldemort's defeat. Fred had given up on sleeping. The dreams were too much to deal with right now. Instead, he sat in the hospital room, watching the rise and fall of his unconscious twin's chest. He was surprised how comforting the motion was. No wonder George had done it so much when he'd been having those dreams.

"Blasted dreams. You should have told me, you stupid prat! You had to go and try to get yourself killed! And for what? It was supposed to be me! Bloody git!"

With that, Fred moodily leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. After a while, he got tired. He couldn't help but be angry at George. 'If he hadn't stunned me…I might have been able to stop both of us from getting hurt.' The voice of reason told him someone had to be there when the explosion took place, but Fred wasn't much for reason right now. He put his head down on George's arm and drifted off to sleep.

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Fred was walking through the halls of Hogwarts, Death Eaters and Order members fighting everywhere. He sped up as he heard the sounds of his brothers dueling.

"Hello Minister! Did I mention I'm resigning?"

Wow, Percy actually made a joke! The exact words he had been thinking were said out loud by a voice he recognized as George's.

"You're joking, Perce!" There was a pause before George continued. "You actually _are_ joking, Perce…I don't think I've heard you joke since - "

The sentence was cut off as a huge explosion rocked the hall. Fred froze. He still wasn't in visual range, but he couldn't move his legs. All of a sudden, he doubled over, clutching his stomach.

'Merlin, this can't be what George was talking about from his dream. We've felt things happen to each other before, but nothing like this! Even when he got hurt, it wasn't this bad. Surely that doesn't mean…'

Fred couldn't think anymore. After what seemed like an eternity, his fears were confirmed by the sound of Percy's voice.

"No – no – no! No! George! No!"

Fred felt like his heart had been ripped out. He had to get to them. His brother had to be okay. He tore off down the hall, running faster than he had in his life. He skidded to a halt 10 feet away from his brothers, but not by choice. It was like an invisible wall had been erected. Fred pounded his fists against the wall, but no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't let him through.

He looked on helplessly as Percy shook his unmoving twin. It wasn't natural to see George like that. He was supposed to be moving. He was always moving. Even when he was asleep. Tears streamed down his face as he kept weakly hitting the wall. He watched as the others moved George to a niche then continued to fight.

As soon as the others were gone, the wall disappeared, as if its sole purpose was to keep the twins apart until there was no one else around. Fred stumbled forward, falling to his knees next to his brother.

"No, no, no, you can't die! You can't leave me here! It should have been me. Why didn't you let it be me?! Please don't leave me! Please don't die!" He collapsed onto his brothers chest, sobbing.

"It hurts, doesn't it?"

Fred immediately stopped sobbing and turned around. George was casually leaning against the wall, staring at him somberly. Fred looked completely shocked. He looked from George's body, to the form of George standing before him and back to the body. George spoke again.

"This is what I dreamed the night before the final battle, with our roles reversed of course. It was different than the rest, but the feeling was the same and so was the outcome. Do you see what I've been feeling for the past month and a half? This is why I couldn't let you come. If you had, I would be in your position and you would be, well, down there," he said, gesturing at his own dead body. Fred glanced at it and shivered before turning back to the talking George. "I'm sorry if that's selfish, but I wasn't going to let you die and if it had been me, you wouldn't have either."

Fred looked down at his hands and gave a final sob then got up and walked over to the talking George.

"This is what you saw? This is what you were going through every night for the past six weeks?"

"Well, this one was a little different. The feeling is the same, but I'd never actually seen the explosion and the…aftermath…until the night before the battle. I always see the body though. And, like I said, the feeling is always the same. It's not like when one of us gets hurt. I know you were thinking that I put you through exactly what I was trying to escape. But it's not the same, is it? It hurts so much more when it's death." George stopped for a minute looking down at the body before continuing with more vigor, almost begging Fred to understand.

"I knew you wouldn't understand unless you saw it. Unless you knew what I had felt. Please don't be angry with me. I know you were before. Don't try to deny it."

Fred paused and sighed deeply. "You're right. I was angry. I didn't understand. I didn't believe you. And I was angry that you didn't trust me enough to tell me and let me try to change it myself."

"I couldn't let you go because you hadn't seen it. You didn't know where it was going to happen or where you had to be so that you wouldn't die. The positioning was so precise. I couldn't risk it."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't understand before. I do now. Forgive me?"

George smiled. "Of course! Who would I have to prank with if I were busy being angry with you Gred?" His face suddenly looked serious again. He looked Fred straight in the eye with an expression of guilt and fear. "Do you forgive me? For stunning you and taking your place and everything?"

"If you'd asked me three days ago, I'm not sure what I would have said." The fear in George's expression increased. Fred smiled and continued on. "But since you asked nicely, yes, I guess I forgive you. Like you said, who would I have to prank with if I were busy being angry with you Forge?" George gave a huge sigh of relief and relaxed as they both laughed. After a minute, Fred looked around.

"So, where are we?"

"Oh, this is your dream. You fell asleep waiting vigilantly by my bedside."

"This is all my dream?"

"Yep, it's all you."

"Then how do I know what you dreamed?"

"Because we're twins. Funny thing, the bond between twins. One can communicate with the other if he really really wants to."

"Really?! Wait, so, what if you were awake and we really really wanted to communicate with each other?"

"Then I imagine we could talk," George said with a huge grin.

"Oh, haha. I mean, could we talk telepathically?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Once I wake up, we'll have to try it out."

Fred looked worried. "You are going to wake up, right? Because if you don't, you'll be putting me through exactly what you were going through. You can't do that to me."

George smiled. "Oh, don't worry, brother dearest. I'm going to wake up if I have any say in the matter."

Fred let out a sigh of relief. "Good."

"Hey, if you could show me the dream now, why couldn't you show it to me before? Then we could have avoided this whole mess."

"Simple, I didn't know I could. It took me this long to figure out how to access this particular aspect of our twin bond. Now that we know how though, I imagine it should be fairly easy to access again."

"Excellent. I can't wait!"

"I know, me neither! We have lots of pranks to pull and things to invent. But first, you need to WAKE UP!"

George turned and shouted the last two words in Fred's ear. Fred started awake. It took a minute for him to realize he was in George's hospital room. He turned his head to look at his brother, hoping to see eyes identical to his own staring back at him. Sadly, George was still unconscious. He sighed and put his head back down, still looking at George.

"Come on, George. I'm not angry. You know that now. Please wake up."

The next few hours were torture for Fred. He sat by his brother's side, knowing he was in there, but not able to wake up. People came and went from the room. His mother was in a majority of the time and there was a steady trickle of Weasleys coming in and out. They told Fred that he should go home for a little while and get some real rest and food, but Fred refused. Despite what the healers were saying, Fred insisted George would wake up soon and he wanted to be there when it happened.

Eventually, he got restless and started writing some ideas for the shop. Some time while he was writing, his parents had given in and left to go get more food and rest. Fred continued scribbling ideas down. He was still taking notes four hours later. Finally, he put down the pad, exhausted.

"Please wake up George. I don't know how much longer I can keep up the hopeful brother gig."

He put his arms and head over George's arm again and was asleep within a few minutes.

He awoke suddenly a while later, not knowing why. He sat up and looked around. It was getting dark and no one was there. He knew he couldn't have been asleep for long, so what had woken him? A raspy voice broke the silence.

"About time you woke up. My arm was falling asleep."

Fred's eyes widened and he looked down at George. George's eyes were open and he was smiling the huge Weasley twin smile. Fred let out something between a laugh, a sob, and a cry and lunged forward, hugging George like there was no tomorrow.

"Oh Merlin, George, I was so scared! Don't ever do that again! You are not allowed to die, you hear me! You can never die!"

George's reply was choked. "I'd love – to keep – that promise – but I can't – if you strangle me!"

"What?"

"Can't – breathe!"

"Oh, sorry!"

Fred jumped up immediately. They stared at each other for a minute, grins plastered on their faces. Finally, George broke the silence.

"So, you're alive then."

"Yes, and you appear to be as well."

"So it would seem. I guess my plan was an overwhelming success."

"Except for the getting blown up bit."

"Oh, little details, little details…"

The pair laughed as Arthur, Molly, Bill, and Percy entered.

"What in the name of Merlin are you laughing about? What-?"

Fred turned around and stepped to the side to reveal George looking at them, both smiling like it was a crime not to. Everyone gasped. Molly dropped the clothes and dinner she had brought for Fred and ran over.

"Oh, George, we were so worried!"

"I know Mum, sorry."

The whole family took their turns with George, hugging and fussing over him. Just as the first four finished the rest of the family plus Harry, Hermione, and Fleur came in and the cycle started over again. George gave Fred a "help me" look as he was encompassed in another huge hug. Fred just grinned back.

"_Hey, you were the one who went and got blown up. Don't ask me for help." _

"_Such gratitude to the person who saved your life." _

"_Haha. So I guess the whole telepathy thing works." _

"_Yes. Excellent to know about now." _

"_We can have lots more fun like this."_

They both paused for a moment before nodding mischievously and saying "Excellent," at the same time out loud.

Everyone looked at them like they were crazy. After a minute of silence, Harry and Ginny snorted, unable to hold back their laughs anymore. This set off everyone else and the room was filled with laughter. The Weasley twins were back.

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A week later, George was back home. Everyone was staying at the Burrow, so it was more crowded than usual. Luckily for the twins, George's condition got him the honor of only having to share the room with one other person, Fred. After a delicious dinner and a celebration for George's homecoming, the twins headed up to bed, where they sat going over some of the ideas Fred had had while George was in the hospital. An hour and a half later, both were exhausted. They lay down in their beds, the light out, but neither closed their eyes.

"George?"

"Yes, Fred?"

"I'm glad you're alive."

"I'm glad you're alive too."

Both twins smiled.

"Goodnight Gred."

"Goodnight Forge. Sweet dreams. No visions of imminent death, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll try my best."

The twins lay there with smiles on their faces. And for the first time in seven weeks, George got a good night sleep.

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Well, that's it! I hope you all liked it and that my crazy vision actually made sense! I know I had fun writing it. Would've been kind of funny if I'd gone through all that trouble to save Fred and then killed George. Anyway, I'm not sure when I'll be able to write again since school is in full swing now, but if I can somehow find the time, I'll try. I've had a few ideas, but nothing definitive yet. Thank you so much for reading my story!

Note: Again, quotes were taken from Deathly Hallows page 636.


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